milandro

Get both, they are very different animals and actually the 8mm will astound you with its sharpness. I have an 8mm 2.8 I ( the first generation of the 2.8 variety, you don’t need the II which is made to cover larger sensors) and it makes a great pair with the 10-24 which is a very different lens. I use the zoom a lot and they are not alternative lenses but complementary ones. You can de-fish the 8mm, some software does that better than other software , if you de-fish and the software crops the shot, what’s the point? Fisheye Hemi, as I understand, doesn’t crop the shot with the 8mm. Here you can see what I am talking about http://www.fotozones.com/live/index.php/topic/56032-to-fish-or-not-to-fish/page-2 There member Alan 7140 has done these two shots where you can compare the same shot with the 10-24 ( at 10mm) and a de-fished ( with Hemi) This article convinced me to buy the 8mm and use it NEXT to the 10-24mm ( which I already had).

Leica doesn’t, but does sell you a “ damaged camera”

cheers x-tc, spot metering mode is indeed very useful since the high contrast which you often see in these situations. I haven’t shot theater things for a while ( I was the photographer of a theater group in my very young learning years) and certainly not with a AF camera, but I can absolutely see how, the new firmware, would make this a lot easier than it is now and certainly better than it is possible to achieve now with the X-E1.

This is only half serious a thread but seen the “ aged” Leica Lenny Kravitz “ correspondent “ model + 2 dedicated aged lenses (!) for a mere $24,500 I thought that following the introduction of the X-Pro-2 ( or whatever it will be called when it comes), there would be the perfect occasion to bring on the market the first “ relic” limited-special-expensive-aged-by-hand by Fuji! To tell the truth there is already the Harrods version of the X-T1 the Globe-trotter kit at the convenient price of ONLY $14,000 ( a bargain compared to Leica! because it has 4 lenses , grip, filters and an Ipad to transfer pics to ), but this isn’t an “ aged by hand model” made to simulate years and years of daily use!

I am nothing but a casual reader or viewer of the work by the “ famous" main “ reviewers” on line and on youtube. I am barely aware of their “ articles” because I tend to discard their eagerness to tell things to the world as suspicious. You will forgive my cynicism, but I have learned at great personal cost that when people are pushing an idea to you, again and again, they mostly do it for their personal gain and advantage. So I tend to take any of the famous reviewers with a large rock of salt rather than a pinch. So, I wasn’t referring to any of those "big names " but rather more, as I wrote in the opening post of this thread, to the many reviews (ofter annoyingly about the same things: over and over and over again!) of non professional reviewers ( although some might be shills but I can’t imagine someone paying for some of the frankly rather poor lucubrations) collected on Scoop.it , which, if I understand this correctly, collects all manners of Fuji X system based articles and publishes a collection of those. If my understanding of that site is correct, authors enroll and the site publishes a link to their article. If that is the case, some mean spirited contributors do so specifically on the base of enticing the Fuji interested people with an attractive title and then proceed to link an article which ends up being only a platform to vilify what obviously people on that platform, Scoop.it, like. As I said passive aggressive strategy, you write a” review” in order to trash one or more of the things that you are reviewing. In other and simpler words, if all you want to do is to put down Fuji this that or the other, why do you even bother to write about it this way? It really baffles me. I have to say that just a couple of days ago an article appeared there which left no doubt, from the title onwards ( I won’t link it because someone might be offended by the language in that title) on the tone of what you were about to read. I’d much rather have that than reading a “ review” which turns out to be only a collection of negativity against Fuji.

the “ components” aren’t almost identical between X-T1 and X-E1 ( very different EVF and the X-E1has an early processor, making many of the X-T1 improvements impossible for this camera) , the X-T1 has obviously superior performance and the update in just a few days will make the gap only that much bigger. Besides if you are a theater photographer you will be missing the electronic shutter. Investing in a X-E2, at this point, is not wise since that camera will be the next one to be given a slow or no kaizen at all. Obviously, unless somebody is crazy at Fuji, the X-10 won’t outperform the X-T1 and it certainly won’t in the area that a theater photographer should appreciate the most, the EVF. Yet, I would wait until the X-T10 has come out and then I would put the two cameras side by side because it is possible that the the difference between the two is not big enough for you to decide to go the X-T1 direction.

I am not sure that you can still buy one but KLM was selling them on their planes. Try getting in touch with the company here http://www.iernest.com/contact/

On scoop.it I regularly come across articles published on various blogs around the world which appear, at first sight, as being of Fuji interest ( which is the reason why they are there I suppose) but when you actually open them and read the article you see that they were written with the sole purpose of a passive-aggressive hateful intent against Fuji. Someone has obviously matured a grudge and it grew into the need to vocalize it. Nothing wrong about that if it were an overt cannonade. But that, for the most part, is hardly the case. Most of these hateful blog posts are really disguised to appaer to be neutral, if not nice, but there is definitely some hatred there, they exude it all over the place. In some cases there are some objective points made there ( although I still wonder why to put it in that particular form ) and I don’t mind that, any camera has points that might be criticized and nothing will ever be created to fit all purposes. Sometimes I have the feeling that the internet is the perfect medium to encourage people to behave at their worst.

I know this won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. But, bear with me, we are all different and we don’t all have to like the same things. So, if you don’t, it’s OK, I probably won’t like the things that you do like, so we are even! I bought this when I bought my first X camera, the X-E1, which I immediately accessorized with a tan leather halfcase. I couldn’t stand the strap of the halfcase so I looked for something more comfortable than that. I soon realized that the world of leather halfcases and straps was an expensive one, especially if I had to import any of this from outside the EU because I had to add 21% VAT plus the arbitrary cost of “ handling through customs” ( easily €20 per “ incident”) which would in some cases add some serious amount of money. I didn’t want to go for the Chinese PU straps because, I don’t like the feel of that material and I thought that at my age I could go for something a bit more comfortable and luxurious that some cord or other flat canvas material. No disrespect intended, as I said, we are all different. I did want leather. That much I knew. Looking through the local classified ads I found someone who was selling a full grain tan leather strap, Dutch made, and normally only sold on KLM flights. The iErnest ( apparently the product has been discontinued now and so the haters will find themselves vindicated!) It looked rather weird but the large neck portion of the strap promised to be comfortable. The weirdness came especially from some elastics mounted on the segment closer to the camera which were supposed to act as shock absorbers. Never seen any such thing and I don’t mind weirdness. The price was right ( I paid €50, normal price €89) and the tan color harmonized with the one of the halfleather case so I went for it. I soon realized that this was guaranteed to catch attention once it was mounted on the camera (something that isn’t all that easy to do by the way) but I don’t particularly mind that: I am over 6’ tall ( 183cm) and 120Kg. bald man, I am used to being conspicuous, no amount of disguise will ever make me “ stealth” besides I am not really into street photography so, what do I care about stealth? Mounting this wasn’t easy the rings provided by the camera don’t fit well the strap and the strap ones don’t fit well in the camera. I used some other rings in the end but the problem was inserting them through the double loop of the strap ( safety feature, the leather alone would be too thin) and the camera drilled prongs. But after some help by my wife ( we both have problems with our hands and fingers due to medical conditions) I managed to put this on the X-E1 (and the worse thing was that I had to repeat the process when I gave the X-E1 back to the shop because of some problems with the sensor which I described in another thread) and then I managed to do it again mounting it on the X-T1. I still like the strap after a year or so. Yes, sometimes one has to tun it a couple of times if the neck padded area has managed to turn the other way around in the bag. But other than that it is a very good strap. Maybe, at some stage I would want to change the last portion of the strap ( the one with the shock absorber) for something that can be easily disconnected when I use the camera on a tripod but this is only a minor problem which hasn’t bothered me much.

This is my own bag with all the stuff I put in it I hate using bags that are too small and where lenses have to be kept in two layers to fit ( so that: if I need the lens under I need to fidget with the one on top). So, I chose one very large bag which could easily accommodate my X-T1 body: Samyang 8mm f 2.8 , 10-24mm f 4, 35 f 1.4, 60mm f2.4 macro, 50-230mm f 4.5.-6.7.I also have a few filters, a gorilla tripod with a ball head, and some odds and ends which I think that I might need. I wanted a soft but thick leather, oil tanned, bag but I also didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for it. So I went for a Jill.E design model Jack Camera Messenger ( the large one not the small), made of oil tanned dark brown Bolivian leather ( I still don’t know if that is a type of leather or it actually comes from Bolivia). It is apparently designed in the USA and made in China and I’ve paid €189 for it, which I found being good value for what I was getting and certainly compared to other brands of leather bags on the market. I like the leather, the amount of space inside and the carrying belt, I don’t like so much the material inside the bag ( it's a bit loose, I’d prefer it if it were tighter) and the size of the 4 external pockets. I don’t use the laptop compartment ( but it has one which can obviously used for other things) and the zipped flap at the back doubles as an extra compartment when zipped but can be opened to fit the handle of a trolley case so you can carry both en securely, useful if you are traveling in airports and places like that. The pictures are not of my case but taken from the Jill.E site. Not everyone would like the size of this bag, for some would be definitely too big but it is exactly the size of all the bags that I’ve ever had before in my photographic life. One thing that led me to buy this case was that next to the abundance of photographic items space ( as I said I truly hate crammed bags with things on top of each other) is the fact that if you are traveling by plane you might be allowed only one piece of hand luggage. In that case, next to my photo stuff I can, at a pinch, stuff the upper layer and the other available compartments, like the laptop compartment, on top of the camera and lenses, where I keep the gorilla pod tripod, with clothes and other necessary things (including my diabetes medication) which I always carry should my case get lost in transit (It has happened before) . With what you can put in the bag I can easily survive a few days and have sufficient underwear to guarantee a few changes.

Of course the 20 and the 30 must be better but I discovered this camera, quite by chance, and after I had been coming to the X system and already owning a X-T1 with 5 lenses. Yet, I’ve always had, next to my computer a small camera to take quick and easy shots, mostly of the saxophones ( my other hobby) that I sell when I have something else to sell on line. For many years I had a Canon G10 which did a very good job but after having entered the X system I had put an arca swiss adapter to all my tripods and this worked very annoyingly with the Canon. I saw that the shoe to attach it to such a head would have not impaired the possibility to change battery or card while the camera was on the tripod . I had also seen that, incredibly, quite a few people were buying Canon G10 on line for a decent amout of money and that I could buy, with the same amount of money a pristine X 10. So I sold my camera to a lady who used it for her scuba diving and had damaged another one she had and bought one from a young guy who preferred to use his Iphone ( he had bought quite a few accessories but hardly ever used the camera). I have to say that I was absolutely chuffed with the camera. It dos great things in general but where the camera really comes into its own is the super macro and the portrait mode simulating shallow depth of field. Not that I would ditch the X-T1 but this camera is really very good, so I can only imagine what the other two would be like!

At some stage, whether for technical or strategical reasons, support will slow down and then die. It’s the second law of thermodynamics applied to the marketing of cameras and it is unavoidable and irreversible. Silkypix pro ( raw converted given for free by Fuji) provided classic chrome also to X-Pro 1 users! Happy?

well, the EVF won’t be the same

well, much depends on where the annoying particles are. As for rebuilding the area by cloning or repairing or whatever one uses. if the number of particles or area affected is large enough, It might be time consuming and eventually lead to completely change the nature of the picture that you’ve taken. In an era when digital photography ( and some of the pictures that many of us take) looks increasingly like painting this might not be seen as a problem. Of course wanting a “ clean’ sensor might just be the symptom of a touch of an obsessive compulsive disorder ( and I am only half joking here because I know that I have some of it in other areas ).

a different approach to nature

the introduction of a new lens ( although it is a different lens) in the same focal length normally has a positive influence ( or is it a negative one ? ) on the price of the older one. So, although some people will go for the new lens, some will still buy the older one but at a cheaper price. I don’t think that I would be selling mine. When it rains I seek a shelter or don’t go out taking pictures at all. I am not of the adventurous persuasion, so the chances of me visiting the rain forest are slim, at best.

... and it very much depends on the lens, since a hair, on the back lens of the 10-24 shows up so big that it is visible in the EVF. Besides, not all dust ( or “oil” spots) might be easily removable. “ Spots” on the sensor of my X-E1 were the reason why I bought the X-T1 in the first place. This misadventure with it had shocked me deeply for a number of reasons. I had bought a X-E1 and was shooting happily with it on my only lens at the time, the 35mm. At some point I decided that I wanted to try adaptive photography on this camera before I got myself some more expensive Fuji lenses so, I got a cheap adapter on line and an Helios 44-b which was the lens, by the way, of my first reflex camera, the Zenith E ( but I had used no reflex cameras before that). Got to play around with that set up and familiarize with this form of photography which ( after trying a radioactive Takumar 50 1.4 and a Cosina 28 2.8) I later on abandoned. Anyway, after one of the change of lenses I noticed that my pictures had some dust ( did it came from the adapter?) so first of all I bought a dust blower and blew the dust away or so I thought, but closer inspection ( shooting white walls or blue skyes) revealed some dust spots at the closer apertures. Then made a fundamental mistake and that was buying a can of compressed gas to clean the sensor. That gas must have been containing some other things too because now I had “ oil” spots! The horror! ( I am getting sweaty and my pulse accelerate as I write!). Bring the camera to the shop to have it serviced. The camera was still under guarantee, if I had it serviced by a third party and anything would have gone wrong this would have made my 2 years guarantee void. Anyway, the shop, after sending the camera to their own technical service, announces that it will be repaired under guarantee, but that it takes 6 weeks to ship it to Fuji Germany ( the Netherlands doesn’t or didn’t at the time have their own repair lab). So they give me a X-M1 and my camera goes to Germany. I play around with the X-M1 for 6 weeks ( not bad a camera but not my cup of tea) then the X-E1 comes back to the shop. I go an get it and go home to discover that the original spots ( "oil “ and or dust) had gone but that now I have a hair visible even in the evf. So I go back to the shop, they take a look at i and were blowing and puffing this thing away, that thy take it to the back of the shop ( to do some wet cleaning) and don’t succeed because the hair was UNDER the protection of the sensor. I am desperate, a quick consultation of the manager returns 3 possibilities 1) They give me another X-E1 but they don’t have one right now and might take some time to get another one. 2) they sell me another camera of my choice discounting the money that I had paid ( in the meantime the X-E1 had become substantially cheaper). At that point I could have chosen for another system had it not been the case that I had bought, while I was waiting, a 60mm and a 10-24mm ( the first one by the way had enormous pice of something inside just after the rear element, I got another one from the shop). So now I am heavily committed to Fuji with 3 expensive lenses ( 10-24, 35, 60mm ), I had briefly peaked into a X-T1 and so I decide to pay some extra money and get the best Fuji that money could buy at the time. I go home and start enjoying the camera until, one day, I am shooting some pictures with a friend and after a lens change I peak into the EVF and what do I see? I huge hair. My heart started pounding like crazy and I sit down open the camera again and see that the hair is on the lens and not on the sensor. So I blew that away. Frankly speaking I dread the idea that the story might repeat itself on the X-T1 too and I am very careful with lens changing Every now and again I get a shock but then realize that the black dot is a bird in the sky. But it is fatal, sooner or later it will happen again. This is one thing that makes digital photography a PITA.

Well you know they say that Robert Capa is credited to have said that: “ If your photographs aren’t good enough, you aren’t close enough” There are many street photographers which worked before WWII or just after that happily shot with their “ normal” and often standard only lens ( although many shot with the square, 6 x 6 cm, format of the Rollei)). The one who more than any other one made this choice famous was Henri Cartier-Bresson who, as we all know or should know, worked especially in his early years with a Leica and a 50mm . Now the 35mm Leica film format is larger than the APS-C sensor and the “ normal” focal length applies to the format of the film (in our case the APS-Csensor). The 35mm Fuji would be equivalent, on the 35mm format, to the 50mm, which is considered the “ normal lens” although, purely from a geometrical point of view this should be a focal length equivalent to the diagonal of the format which is more in the region of the 42mm. So, If that kind of aesthetic used by Cartier-Bresson was reachable with the normal focal length ( for him 50mm) on the 35mm film format, we, on the APS-C, should be able to do the same with the 35mm lens. However in the meantime a different aesthetic developed, one which calls for a “ wider approach”. But if Cartier-Bresson did it, so can we!

Two different animals! With regards to which one you should go for, much depends on the type of photography that you do. I agree if I could only have one lens and one lens alone it would be the 35 1.4 , in fact for a while it was the only lens that I had ( the first lens that I have bought when I just got myself the first fujifilm x camera , an X-E1, that I’ve used for a while until it needed being repaired ... long story) , but I am not really a street photographer! If I were, then probably the 23 ( which didn’t exist at the time) would have been the lens that I would have gone for.

well, everything is gone very quite indeed about the older Fuji X cameras. The potential for some update is there, obviously, but to me, it would only stand to reason if the updating of the older models would stay limited and at some time or other one would have to make a choice and upgrade or keep on working within the by that (or perhaps this) time reached “ limits” of the older camera. There should be no shame in doing this and for most of us this won’t really mean much since the capabilities of those cameras way exceed the needs of most week-end-warriors. Classic chrome would be probably easily added to those cameras which don’t have it yet but, possibly, the new fast autofocus won’t be part of the upgrades offered to those cameras. Let’s face it, these cameras have reached many people and Fuji would make them happy to revive a camera several years old, but since they eat every day at Fuji as you and I do, but there is only so much that you can eat now with the money that you’ve earned 3-4-5-6 years ago( + all the costs of developing new software), so at some stage the Kaizen for older cameras will stop. I have several older Macintosh computers which still work but their software is no longer been updated. I can used an older Agfa scanner on an older Mac and use Garage band on that Mac to record music but it won’t even be wise to go on the internet ( it still works) because that OS is no longer protected from malicious users. But I am still happily using those computers to do the things that they can do. The X-Pro 1 is been sold now in my part of the world in a kit with two lenses ( 18mm, 27mm) leather cases for camera and lenses for €899 which is a lot less than the X-Pro 1 alone costed a few years ago. I think that the Kaizen for that camera has very likely reached its sell by date or thereabouts.